November 2, 2024 | International, C4ISR, Security
Microsoft Warns of Chinese Botnet Exploiting Router Flaws for Credential Theft
Chinese botnet Storm-0940 exploits routers, targets Microsoft users with covert password spray attacks.
May 19, 2020 | International, Aerospace, Naval, Land, C4ISR, Security
NAVY
Lockheed Martin Corp., Owego, New York, is awarded a $904,800,000 modification (P00011) to a previously awarded firm-fixed-price, cost-plus-fixed-fee contract N00019-19-C-0013. This modification provides for the production and delivery of three MH-60R Seahawk maritime aircraft for the Navy and 21 MH-60Rs for the government of India. Work will be performed at Owego, New York (52%); Stratford, Connecticut (40%); and Troy, Alabama (8%), and is expected to be complete by September 2024. Fiscal 2020 aircraft procurement (Navy) funds in the amount of $113,100,000 and Foreign Military Sales funds in the amount of $791,700,000 will be obligated at time of award, none of which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Maryland, is the contracting activity.
Hunter Pacific Group,* San Diego, California, is awarded a $30,000,000 firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity, architect-engineering contract for cost engineering, value engineering and scheduling services in the Naval Facilities Engineering Command (NAVFAC), Southwest Area of Responsibility (AOR). Work will be performed at various Navy and Marine Corps facilities and other government facilities within the NAVFAC Southwest AOR including, but not limited to: California (87%); Arizona (5%); Nevada (5%); Colorado (1%); New Mexico (1%); and Utah (1%). Work provides for cost estimates and other cost engineering services in support of analyses, reports, designs and change orders. Cost engineering services may include construction cost reduction evaluations and recommendations, bid analyses and verifications, validations of DD Form 1391 scope/cost estimate, peer review of cost estimates, review and technical analysis of contractor change order cost proposals and assistance with claims, litigations and negotiations with boards/committees. Value engineering services shall include facilitating and forming multi-discipline technical teams to conduct value engineering and/or function analysis concept development (FACD) workshops for a variety of projects. Services in support of value engineering and FACD workshops may include site investigations, preparation and/or review of engineering studies/reports, cost estimates, facility and infrastructure assessments, risk assessments, life cycle cost engineering and/or total ownership cost analyses, and schematic layouts/sketches. Scheduling shall be in support of analyses and change orders and may include preparation of schedules and construction cost loaded schedules, review/analysis of base line contractor schedules and schedule updates, review/analysis of contractor change orders, time impact analysis and assistance with claims, litigations and negotiations with boards/committees. Work is expected to be complete by April 2025. No task orders are being issued at this time. Fiscal 2020 operations and maintenance (O&M) (Navy) contract funds in the amount of $5,000 are obligated on this award and will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. Future task orders will be primarily funded by O&M (Navy) and O&M (Marine Corps). This contract was competitively procured via the Navy Electronic Commerce Online website and four proposals were received. The Naval Facilities Engineering Command Southwest, San Diego, California, is the contracting activity (N62473-20-D-0614).
PSI Pax Inc.,* California, Maryland, is awarded a $29,286,410 cost-plus-fixed-fee, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract. Work will be performed in Patuxent River, Maryland, and provides administrative, business and financial services such as data entry accounting processes, interface error research and analysis, process management, deficiency identification, testing of system changes, professional and analytical support, liaison support, funds management, financial tracking, internal and external data calls, document and records management, specialized analytical support in meeting financial systems requirements, assessing financial systems relative to data integrity, corporate and user reporting requirements as well as centralized support of travel related processes to include help desk support for the entire Naval Air Systems Command. Work is expected to be complete by June 2025. No funds will be obligated at the time of award. Funds will be obligated on individual orders as they are issued. This contract was competitively procured as a small business set-aside via an electronic request for proposal; five offers were received. The Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division, Patuxent River, Maryland, is the contracting activity (N00421-20-D-0073).
Mustang Technology Group LP, doing business as L3 Mustang Technology, Plano, Texas, is awarded a $19,082,000 fixed-price-incentive-firm-target modification to previously awarded contract N00024-19-C-5313 for 658 rounds of 57mm MK 332 High Explosive-4 Bolt Guided (HE-4G) Cartridge ammunition. Work will be performed in Plano, Texas (78%), and Cincinnati, Ohio (22%), and is expected to be complete by September 2021. Fiscal 2020 and 2019 procurement of ammunition, (Navy and Marine Corp) funding in the amount of $19,082,000 will be obligated at time of award and will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, D.C., is the contracting activity.
L3 Harris Technologies Inc., Anaheim, California, is awarded a $12,732,754 cost-plus-fixed-fee contract modification (P00030) to exercise options under previously awarded and announced contract N00030-18-C-0001. Work will be performed in Anaheim, California (71%); Cape Canaveral, Florida (23%); Washington, D.C. (3%); Bremerton, Washington (1%); Norfolk, Virginia (1%), and Kings Bay, Georgia (1%). Work will provide services and support for Flight Test Instrumentation and is expected to be complete by August 2022. Fiscal 2020 operations and maintenance (Navy) funds in the amount of $2,968,016; fiscal 2020 weapons procurement (Navy) funds in the amount of $9,332,143; and fiscal 2020 research, development, test and evaluation (Navy) funds in the amount of $200,000 are obligated on this award. Fiscal 2020 operations and maintenance (Navy) funds in the amount of $2,968,016 will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract modification is awarded to the contractor on a sole-source basis under 10 U.S. Code 2304(c)(1) and was previously synopsized on the Federal Business Opportunities website. The Strategic Systems Programs, Washington, D.C., is the contracting activity.
IDSC Holdings LLC, Snap-on Industrial, Kenosha, Wisconsin, is awarded an $11,088,933 firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract. This contract procures up to 2,064 toolboxes containing 1.423 different types of commercial tools in support of initial outfitting associated with F-35 low rate initial production and maintenance. Work will be performed in Kenosha, Wisconsin, and is expected to be complete by September 2021. No funds will be obligated at the time of award. Funds will be obligated on individual orders as they are issued. This contract was competitively procured via an electronic request for proposal and four offers were received. The Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division, Lakehurst, New Jersey, is the contracting activity (N68335-20-D-0025).
Northrop Grumman Systems Corp., San Diego, California, is awarded a $9,162,847 modification (P00002) to cost-plus-fixed-fee order N00019-19-F-0280 against previously issued basic ordering agreement N00019-15-G-0026. This modification provides systems engineering and program management support for the development, integration, test and delivery of two radar altimeters and two integrated avionics units in support of the BQM-34S Firebee High Performance Aerial Target System, BQM-74E target drones and the Aerial Targets Program Office. Work will be performed in Endicott, New York (62%); San Diego, California (37%); and Clearwater, Florida (1%). Work is expected to be complete by January 2022. Fiscal 2018 weapons procurement (Navy) funds in the amount of $4,472,396 and fiscal 2019 weapons procurement (Navy) funds in the amount of $4,690,451 will be obligated at time of award, $4,472,396 of which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Maryland, is the contracting activity.
Independent RT Center LLC, Cibolo, Texas, is awarded $8,029,638 for firm-fixed-price delivery order M67854-20-F-5018 under previously awarded firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract M67854-20-D-5000 with a maximum ceiling of $62,500,000, for the Rough Terrain Container Handlers Service Life Extension Program. Work will be performed in Cibolo, Texas, and is expected to be complete by January 2030. Fiscal 2019 Congressional funds in the amount of $3,066,228 and fiscal 2020 procurement (Marine Corps) funds in the amount of $4,963,410 are being obligated and will expire Sept. 30, 2021. This contract was competitively procured via the Federal Business Opportunities website and two offers were received. The Marine Corps Systems Command, Quantico, Virginia, is the contracting activity (M67854-20-D-5000).
Huntington Ingalls Inc., Newport News, Virginia, is awarded a $7,400,000 not-to-exceed, fixed-price incentive, undefinitized change order modification to contract N00024-15-C-2114 for the installation of Consolidated Afloat Networks and Enterprise Services AN/USQ-208B (V) 5 Local Area Network drops. Work will be performed in Newport News, Virginia, and is expected to be complete by May 2022. Fiscal 2018 shipbuilding and conversion (Navy) funding in the amount of $3,700,000 will be obligated at time of award and will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Supervisor of Shipbuilding, Conversion and Repair, Newport News, Virginia, is the contracting activity.
ARMY
Perspecta Enterprise Solutions LLC, Herndon, Virginia, was awarded an Other Transaction Authority agreement with a ceiling of $237,243,000 to develop, integrate, deliver, operate and maintain an enterprise capability for Army training and education information. Bids were solicited via the internet with three received. Work will be performed in Herndon, Virginia, with an estimated completion date of May 17, 2024. Fiscal 2020 research, development, test and evaluation (Army) funds in the amount of $14,500,000 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Contracting Command, Newark, New Jersey, is the contracting activity (W15QKN-20-9-1118).
Charles River Laboratories, Wilmington, Massachusetts (W81XWH-20-A-0003); Envigo RMS LLC, Indianapolis, Indiana (W81XWH-20-A-0004); and The Jackson Laboratory, Bar Harbor, Maine (W81XWH-20-A-0005), will compete for each order of the $25,000,000 firm-fixed-price contract to supply small laboratory research animals and related services. Bids were solicited via the internet with three received. Work locations and funding will be determined with each order, with an estimated completion date of July 8, 2025. U.S. Army Medical Research Acquisition Activity, Fort Detrick, Maryland, is the contracting activity.
Quantitech Inc., Huntsville, Alabama, was awarded a $17,686,572 modification (000237) to contract W31P4Q-16-A-0010 for programmatic support for the Utility Helicopters Project Manager's Office. Work will be performed in Huntsville, Alabama, with an estimated completion date of May 14, 2021. Fiscal 2020 Foreign Military Sales (Australia); other procurement (Army); and research, development, test and evaluation (Army) funds in the amount of $17,686,572 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Contracting Command, Redstone Arsenal, Alabama, is the contracting activity.
Mantle-Plocher JV,* Worden, Illinois, was awarded a $14,793,000 firm-fixed-price contract for placement and leasing of modular facilities to support approximately 450 personnel at Scott Air Force Base. Bids were solicited via the internet with four received. Work will be performed at Scott Air Force Base, Illinois, with an estimated completion date of May 13, 2025. Fiscal 2020 operations and maintenance (Air Force) funds in the amount of $14,793,000 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Louisville, Kentucky, is the contracting activity (W912QR-20-C-0021).
Dawson Enterprises LLC,* Honolulu, Hawaii, was awarded a $10,431,915 firm-fixed-price contract for construction of utility infrastructure to support the installation of a modular paint booth and personnel building. Bids were solicited via the internet with one received. Work will be performed in Tucson, Arizona, with an estimated completion date of Nov. 5, 2021. Fiscal 2019 civil operations and maintenance funds in the amount of $10,431,915 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Los Angeles, California, is the contracting activity (W912PL-20-C-0017).
AIR FORCE
Braxton Technologies LLC, Colorado Springs, Colorado, has been awarded a $31,399,226 cost-plus-fixed-fee contract modification (P00012) to contract FA8806-19-C-0003 for support and delivery network, infrastructure, hardware and architecture solutions under the Cross Mission Ground Communications Enterprise Corps (ECX). This contract award provides for cross-domain solutions, design, integration and rapid delivery team services. Work will be performed in Colorado Springs, Colorado, and is expected to be completed by May 17, 2021. This award is the result of a sole-source acquisition under the Small Business Innovation Research Program. The total cumulative face value of the contract is $55,387,870. Fiscal 2020 research, development, test and evaluation funds in the amount of $8,507,999 are being obligated at the time of award. Space and Missile Systems Center, Los Angeles Air Force Base, California, is the contracting activity.
The Corporation of Mercer University, Warner Robins, Georgia, has been awarded a $9,039,309 task order (FA8523-20-F-0029) on basic contract FA8523-20-D-0001 to provide Laboratory Intelligence Validated Emulators-Virtual-Constructive (LVC) closed-loop engineering test and evaluation of newly developed electronic warfare (EW) systems. This order provides integration of gold-standard Intelligence Community threat definitions into the Electronic Warfare and Avionics Integrated Support Facility, where LVC closed loop operational test – vertical testability demonstration simulations and testing will be conducted to inform the baseline capability and to identify growth areas for improving operational survivability, reliability and mission success of fielded EW systems in support of airborne U.S. warfighting elements. Work will be performed in Warner Robins, Georgia, and is expected to be completed by May 13, 2022. Fiscal 2020 operations and maintenance funds in the amount of $4,140,106 are being obligated at the time of award. The Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, Robins Air Force Base, Georgia, is the contracting activity.
*Small business
https://www.defense.gov/Newsroom/Contracts/Contract/Article/2187605/source/GovDelivery/
November 2, 2024 | International, C4ISR, Security
Chinese botnet Storm-0940 exploits routers, targets Microsoft users with covert password spray attacks.
April 8, 2021 | International, C4ISR
The rebranded Cobham will be the sole U.S. seller of products from 3D-printing firm SWISSto12.
September 29, 2020 | International, Aerospace
Steve Trimble Proposals for a next-generation tanker that would come after the last Boeing KC-46 delivery in fiscal 2029 have popped up every few years since 2006, only to get sidetracked by yet another acquisition process misstep or technical problem afflicting the program's frustrating development phase. As a fresh sense of optimism gathers among senior U.S. Air Force leaders about the direction of the KC-46 program, a new discussion has started between Defense Department officials and the Air Mobility Command (AMC) about the future of the air-refueling mission. Some proposals in the discussions include revived versions of various older concepts for weaponized larger tankers and smaller stealth tankers. But this time, discussions involve taking a wider view of the overall need to defend and deliver fuel to aircraft in combat, with implications for base defenses, the size and range of future fighters and next-generation tanker designs. A perceived turnaround in the fortunes of the KC-46 program allows the Air Force to reopen the next-generation discussion. Since at least 2016, a heated dispute over Boeing's original design—and, later, proposed fixes—for the KC-46's remote vision system (RVS) sidetracked planning for a next-generation tanker. Air Force officials complained that Boeing's original RVS design fell short of operator requirements, especially when the receiver aircraft was backlit by the Sun. In addition, the canted layout of the belly-mounted, panoramic cameras created subtle distortions in the displayed video that proved bothersome to some RVS operators, Air Force officials say. The Air Force and Boeing finally agreed to a redesign plan in January 2019. The Air Force is finalizing a test report on an enhanced RVS, which was formerly known as RVS 1.5. AMC officials have committed to review the test data but offered no promises on whether they would approve the enhanced RVS to be installed in the KC-46. The installation would require parking a fleet of more than 36 delivered KC-46s to complete the retrofit, and the AMC remains unsure whether the improvement is worth the delay. The enhanced RVS offers only software updates to the current system, but the AMC clearly wants more. Boeing has committed to a more dramatic upgrade called RVS 2.0. Including hardware and software changes, this Boeing-funded, second-generation RVS system is expected to meet the image-resolution standards demanded by the Air Force and create a path to inserting the software algorithms necessary to give the KC-46 an optional autonomous-refueling mode. Boeing is scheduled to deliver the first 12 RVS 2.0 shipsets by the end of 2023 and begin the retrofit process on delivered KC-46s, says Gen. Jacqueline Van Ovost, the AMC commander. The AMC expects a production cutin for RVS 2.0 starting in 2024, although Boeing's KC-46 global sales and marketing director, Mike Hafer, says the first RVS 2.0-equipped aircraft could start rolling off the assembly line in late 2023. Will Roper, the Air Force's assistant secretary for acquisition, technology and logistics, says the progress toward fielding the RVS 2.0 makes him feel “excited” about the KC-46 program. “I think we've turned a new page,” he says. In mid-September, Roper and Van Ovost met to discuss what will follow the KC-46. The next-generation tanker discussion comes after a series of dramatic acquisition decisions surrounding Air Force aircraft. Most visibly, Roper led a push in 2018 to cancel the Joint Stars recapitalization program, which was replaced with the Advanced Battle Management System (ABMS). More quietly, Roper also drove the Air Force to rethink the acquisition strategy for the Next-Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) program. The ABMS and NGAD are now characterized by an architecture of multiple systems, with no single-aircraft silver bullet solution. Roper acknowledges that the nature of tanker operations does not immediately lend itself to a distributed multiplatform solution. “We can break up a J-Stars [replacement into multiple systems],” Roper says. “We may be able to break up an [E-3 Airborne Warning and Control System] in the future, but we can't break up fuel easily.” Still, Roper prefers to address the future air-refueling problem in an era of great power competition with a similar architectural approach as ABMS and NGAD. “When there's a solvable problem and you need to turn multiple knobs, the Pentagon likes to turn one and only one,” Roper says. “And [aerial refueling] sounds like a really good architectural question that you'd want to have an architected solution for—[rather than] design a one-solution candidate in the form of a platform.” Roper's turnable knobs for a future air-refueling system cover a wide range of options, including two with only indirect impacts on a tanker aircraft design. To Roper, the problem of air refueling includes defending the bases closest to an adversary where aircraft can be refueled on the ground. Likewise, another part of the solution is to move away from relatively small fighter aircraft that lack sufficient range for a Pacific theater scenario. “Maybe having small, currently sized fighters is not the way to go in the future,” Roper says. “Thinking about bigger fighters is a natural question to lay alongside the question, ‘How does your future tanker force look?'” Air-refueling capacity also is partly a function of the vulnerability of the tanker aircraft. Fewer and perhaps smaller tankers may be possible if existing tanker aircraft could operate closer to the battlefield. The Air Force now uses fighters on combat air patrols to defend high-value assets, such as tankers, surveillance and command-and-control aircraft. Those fighters conducting the patrols also add to the refueling burden. A possible solution is to weaponize tankers such as the KC-46 and KC-135. The Air Force is developing podded defensive lasers and miniature self-defense munitions. “We don't put weapons and sensors on tankers to shoot down aircraft, but the current KC-46 is a big airplane with the ability to mount sensors and weapons on the wings,” Roper says. “We're going to look at all those [options].” The Air Force also believes a new tanker aircraft is necessary. As far back as 2002, research began on stealthy mobility aircraft under the Air Force Research Laboratory's Speed Agile program. As the KC-X acquisition program kicked off, the Air Force released a tanker road map in 2006 that called for launching a KC-Y acquisition program in 2022 and a KC-Z program by 2035. By 2016, AMC leaders openly discussed proposals for leapfrogging the KC-Y requirement, which sought to buy a larger version of a commercial derivative. Instead, AMC officials began investigating concepts for an autonomous stealthy aircraft. By 2018, Lockheed Martin's Skunk Works had defined a concept for such an aircraft, which featured an undisclosed refueling technology that could dock with a receiver aircraft without compromising radar stealth. As discussions have reopened in September, the Air Force is again considering the acquisition of a mix of larger and smaller aircraft to fulfill the demand for in-flight refueling in the 2030s and 2040s. “One trade we can do is having bigger tankers that stand off a lot farther,” Roper says, “[and] having smaller, microtankers that do that last mile, the dangerous mile—and we expect to lose some of them.” The Air Force's budget justification documents suggest research on a next-generation tanker will continue at a low level: Nearly $8 million was requested in fiscal 2021 to “assess promising configurations in high- and low-speed wind tunnels.” The Air Force also is designing a small, pod-mounted tactical air-refueling boom, according to budget documents. The latter suggests that one option for increasing refueling capacity for aircraft equipped with boom receivers is to integrate a podded fuel-delivery system on tactical aircraft, such as a Lockheed Martin C-130. “I expect that as we really look at airpower in the truly contested environment, we'll be looking at fuel very strategically,” Roper says. “We may have a different solution for outside [a threat area] versus inside. And I think we will value, increasingly, aircraft that have range for the last mile.” https://aviationweek.com/defense-space/aircraft-propulsion/kc-46-progress-revives-next-generation-tanker-talks